At first glance, it’s lightweight .22 magnum semi-automatic with a huge magazine capacity. I mean, sure, nothing else is like it out there right now, but how different can it REALLY be?

Different enough to make me fall in love with the love of shooting again.

Let me explain.

The first thing I noticed when I took the PMR-30 out of its case is how light it is: At 14 ounces, it’s lighter than my subcompact 9mm Shield, at 1.3 inches wide, not much thicker and with a 4.5 pound pull and a good reset, it’s also got a better trigger out of the box than my Shield.

And then I took it to the range, and the fun REALLY began.

Because of its low weight, light recoil, good trigger, the PMR-30 is just a flat out joy to shoot. Add in the loud bark of .22 magnum and excellent (although non-adjustable) fibre-optic sights, and you’ve got the perfect range-day gun. Because of the need to fit in the long and thin .22 magnum ammunition, the grip is a little weird, it kinda has a triangular cross-section. Not hard to hold, just different from most semi-autos, and the magazine is in the heel of the butt like the old Lugers and P-08’s. Not a big deal, because let’s face it, with 30 rounds in each mag, it’s a while before you’ll swap it out for a new one.

The PMR-30 is accurate… enough. It’s not the last word in tack-driver semiautos, but it did turn in 1 inch groups at 25 feet off a rest. However, with 30 rounds in the magazine, you won’t care, you’ll just be blazing away at your target with a big stupid grin on your face.

In Part 2 on Monday, we’ll talk about some of the more serious uses for this fun little gun.